The bullet fired from the musket left a cone-shaped penetrating wound in the first mate's chest; from this side of his body, one could even see the scenery behind him.
With a look of surprise on his face, Gold Tooth looked down at the wound on his chest. Before he could utter a single word, he collapsed and never breathed a word again.
Aisha, struggling to her feet while holding onto the edge of the wooden platform, raised her short sword to her chest and shouted, "If there are any more scoundrels with ill intentions, I don't mind putting a hole like this in them too!"
The rebelling pirates, having witnessed the death of their first mate, immediately lost their will to fight. Without their leader, they surrendered and were tied to the mast by the captain's confidants.
Ten minutes later, the armed speedboat returned to its usual calm under the cover of night.
Those who died in battle were first slit in the throat with knives, then thrown into the sea, their bodies instantly buried by the waves and storm.
The bloodstains on the deck were washed away completely, but the strong smell of blood lingered in the air for a long time.
Instructing her trusted men to keep an eye on the rebels, Aisha invited Todd and Rachel back to the captain's cabin. Once inside, she brazenly rolled up her trousers and slowly cut open the skin of her wound with a red-hot knife.
A barely audible hissing sound, wisps of white smoke, and a faint smell of burnt meat filled the air, causing Todd to furrow his brow in discomfort.
Large beads of sweat rolled down her forehead. Aisha clenched her teeth tightly, gently separated the bloody wound with one hand, and picked up the needle-nose pliers with the other, clamped the end of the crossbow bolt, and pulled it out forcefully.
The bloodstained crossbow bolt fell to the floor with a dull thud.
Looking closely at the bleeding wound, Aisha finally felt a sliver of relief on her pale face. She let out a long sigh, tossed the tools back onto the table, quickly bandaged it, and then looked at the two guests in the room: "Why did you help me?"
Hearing the question, Todd shrugged, somewhat puzzled, and replied, "Why wouldn't I help you?"
“I’ve carried a lot of ‘cargo’ that encountered problems during their voyages, but I never thought of helping them.”
Todd glanced at the musket on the table and said with a smile, "If something happens to you, I don't believe those guys will continue to honor the delivery agreement you promised."
Aisha nodded, indicating her approval of the answer.
A moment later, noticing Todd's observation, she followed his gaze to the musket in front of her and asked, "Are you interested in this?"
The latter smiled and extended his right hand: "If I may obtain your permission..."
Aisha thought for a moment, then picked up the musket and handed it to Todd, saying, "Mr. Derek, be careful not to break it!"
Nodding repeatedly in agreement, Todd picked up the musket and examined it closely.
This weapon is heavy and made of high-quality materials, featuring a single-shot breech and a dual-bullet magazine design.
He brought it closer and smelled it. Besides the smell of gunpowder, Todd could also faintly smell castor oil. He then looked at it carefully by the firelight. The burnt linen cloth on the fire looked like a black ash.
Aisha watched Todd's actions, her light blue and amber eyes gently shifting, remaining silent from beginning to end.
Todd, holding his musket, sat there deep in thought for a long time.
During his university years, he and his male classmates in the same major often discussed military affairs and weaponry. Although it wasn't his major, he did have some knowledge about firearms.
The evolutionary history of early firearms can be broadly divided into matchlock guns, flintlock guns, wheel-fired guns, and flintlock guns.
The musket from another world in his hand, technically speaking, should be somewhere between a flintlock musket and a tinderbox; in terms of age, it probably appeared around the end of the 15th century in Europe.
The history of firearms can be traced back to the late 10th century AD, when the Northern Song Dynasty invented the world's earliest matchlock gun—the bamboo fire gun (which later evolved into the fire-spear in the Southern Song Dynasty). In the 1330s, medieval Europe saw the birth of the earliest prototype of the Western matchlock gun—the flintlock gun.
In 1206 AD, after the rise of the Mongols, they not only destroyed the Western Xia, the Western Liao, and the Jin in a short period of time, but also marched south to overthrow the Song Dynasty. This caused the development of gunpowder weapons in the East to plummet and never recover. On the other hand, in medieval Europe, due to the late introduction of gunpowder weapons and the suppression by the Church, Europe did not begin to upgrade its matchlock guns until the early 16th century.
However, in the long history of the past, there was one country whose research and application of gunpowder weapons were selectively forgotten by the world.
That was the Arab Empire.
Through trade and missionary work, gunpowder technology from the Northern Song Dynasty was introduced to the Arab Empire as early as the late 11th century.
Compared to the turbulent situation in the East and the repressive religion in the West, the relatively stable political situation, the more enlightened religious tolerance, and the advanced concept of advocating science in the Arab Empire created an unparalleled "golden age" for the development of gunpowder.
The Syrian army of that time possessed some incredible gunpowder weapons, now considered "cutting-edge technology," and have been recorded in history books. For example, the Syrians of the 13th century created a powerful anti-ship torpedo, which was even featured in a special episode of the famous Discovery Channel program "MythBusters."
However, later academic circles, both in the East and the West, have held a negative and skeptical attitude towards the gunpowder weapons of the Arab Empire. The reason is simple: years of war and division, as well as wanton destruction, have resulted in the preservation of few relics and artifacts in the region. The lack of evidence has caused this part of the empire's gunpowder history to gradually disappear into history.
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